With the increasing popularity of competitive swimming and the attendant emphasis upon sophisticated training procedures and training equipment, there has been a vast increase in the appearance of different devices for use in competitive and recreational swimming development. One area which has seen a proliferation of activity is in regard to flotation devices which are employed to effect or supplement flotation and provide total or partial immobilization of a portion or portions of a swimmer's body in order to concentrate on the development of techniques involving other body portions involved in the makeup of a swimming stroke. Well known examples of devices of this nature are kickboards, leg buoys and water wings, all of which have appeared in the swimming training aid field in a variety of forms.
In regard particularly to kickboards, such devices are employed to provide flotation for an essential immobilization of a swimmer's arms while permitting the development of improved techniques or strength and endurance with respect to leg motions and/or breathing techniques. Kickboards of various types have been developed primarily of inflated or foam materials which, within reasonable size constraints, produce significant buoyancy assistance to maintain the arms, and if desired, the head of a swimmer in a generally prone position at or above the water surface. In most instances, kickboards have been constructed of a single uniform thickness of foam material defined on the top and bottom by planar surfaces. Various sizes of kickboards have been evolved for different purposes requiring differing amounts of buoyant force. These prior art kickboards are commonly provided with a curved, tapered or rounded extremity to at least give an appearance of a front or forward end thereof that in some instances may be employed to facilitate gripping.
To applicant's knowledge existing devices have been somewhat deficient in that the buoyant effect of a single kickboard cannot be varied to optimally accommodate swimmers of differing sizes and weights. In addition existing kickboards generally have no manner by which fluidic drag can be varied to enable a swimmer to establish varying resistance characteristics for differing purposes, inasmuch as the flat surfaces of kickboards are generally planar and have uniform drag parameters dependent solely upon the surface material and characteristics. Further, many of the kickboards of which applicant is aware are somewhat slippery or difficult to grasp when wet. Further, many of the kickboard devices which have been developed to date are not constructed in a fashion to withstand the rigors of both proper and occasionally improper usage to which they are inevitably subjected in the recreational environment of swimming pools.